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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28980342">Absolution</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso'>JCapasso</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:48:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,895</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28980342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Charlotte merged Audrey and Mara, she kept Mara instead of Audrey. How will Mara be different now that she has all the good parts of her back again?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mara was beyond irritated as she put down the weak little nothing that used to be part of her and then could turn her attention to her traitorous mother. “Now…mommy…’hi’? 500 years and ‘hi’?” she asked incredulously. </p><p>“Put the gun down. You don't want to shoot me,” Charlotte said with forced evenness. </p><p>“I do,” Mara said coldly. </p><p>“Mara, I've had time to think…”</p><p>“Yeah,” she scoffed. </p><p>Charlotte ignored her tone and response and just kept going. “And I might know why you're so upset.”</p><p>“Maybe because you locked me in this place for 500 years, while other people took over my body?” Mara said as though it should be obvious. </p><p>Charlotte shook her head sadly. “No...Because you blame yourself for what happened to dad. Because I was too busy trying to help you, not him, and we lost him,” she said gently. </p><p>Mara let out a cold laugh, shoving away the feelings that tried to well up at that and snapped, “No! I blame you. You're timid and stupid and jealous of the things I can do. And weak!” She said hatefully. “And guess what? I'm not, and I am going to get dad back.”</p><p>“At what cost?” Charlotte asked, trying to get through to her. She could see by the way Mara reacted so violently to her words that she’d struck a nerve. </p><p>“Doesn't matter,” Mara said dismissively. </p><p>“Does Duke matter?” Charlotte asked pointedly. She’d seen something in Mara when it came to Duke. He meant something to her. She only hoped it was enough. </p><p>“I needed to work with the aether,” Mara said dismissively. “You may be afraid of it, but I'm not, and as for Duke…He'll be fine. I turned his thing off, and we're gonna go flying, and maybe I'll turn another little part on,” she smirked smugly. </p><p>“Mara, this whole situation has turned you into something you're not, and it's my fault,” Charlotte said regretfully. If only she’d tried to help her find herself the right way instead of just throwing overlay personalities and hoping one of them would seep in enough. She’d gone about this all wrong from the start. “I beg you, please, let me help you. Let me make you whole again.”</p><p>“I don't want her,” Mara snapped. </p><p>“She's not /her/, dove. She's you,” Charlotte tried to reason. “You have to admit, there are parts of her that you respect. Parts that could make you better. Let me return them to you.” She could see Mara starting to falter so she kept going. “It doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to be so angry. Do you like feeling like that?</p><p>“No,” Mara admitted. “I just feel like this all the time.”</p><p>“I am so sorry,” Charlotte said sadly. </p><p>“Do you remember when I was little snd we used to go swimming? With dad?” Mara started to falter. </p><p>“Yeah,” Charlotte said softly, trying to figure out where she was going with this. </p><p>“I...loved that. He would hold me in the water, and I felt safe,” she said almost desperately. She didn’t even remember what that felt like. What any of it felt like. </p><p>“And you don't feel safe anymore,” Charlotte guessed. </p><p>“No,” Mara said coldly. </p><p>“And you need to feel that way again. Don't you?” Charlotte asked, starting to realize where all this was coming from and just how much of a mistake she’d made back then. She’d taken all the good parts of Mara and made new personalities around them, trying to help them grow, but now they were all gone. They weren’t part of her anymore. </p><p>“I do,” Mara admitted, trying to figure out what exactly she was feeling right now. </p><p>Charlotte stepped closer to her slowly, reaching a hand out. “Let me help you, Mara. Please. Let me make you feel better.” </p><p>Mara felt her hand shaking with the gun and it fell to the ground and she nearly followed it, but was caught by her mother who lowered her gently to both of their knees just as Audrey woke up and she was pulled in to her mother’s other side. She felt a strange tugging and swirling feeling before everything snapped into place and she gasped for breath as the crushing remorse set in. “Wh-what have I done?” she breathed out, not even noticing the two men walking nervously towards them from behind. “Mommy, what have I done?” the tears streamed down her cheeks. </p><p>“Shh. It’s okay dove. I’ve got you,” Charlotte said soothingly, running a hand through her daughter’s hair. At least part of her big plan seemed to have worked. It had reawakened the goodness in her. Even if she had gone about it the wrong way. </p><p>“Mara…” Nathan said nervously. </p><p>Mara jumped and turned to look at both him and Duke. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I wish…I wish Audrey could have stayed. For you…both of you,” she said sadly looking between him and Duke. She didn’t blame either of them for the suspicion they were looking at her with. </p><p>“Okay, so are we going to fix me now or what?” Duke asked impatiently. </p><p>“I turned you off, so you should be okay,” Mara told him. </p><p>“Turned me off? Does that mean you can turn me back on again?” Duke asked disgustedly. </p><p>“Once I get rid of all the troubles, you’ll be back to normal,” she assured him. “And…I am /so/ sorry for what I’ve done to you in particular. The whole town, really, but…especially you.” </p><p>“Right, let’s just skip the part that we’re not going to fall for,” Nathan scoffed. “If you can get rid of the troubles then do it.” </p><p>“I will,” she promised. “I just need…oh god,” she stopped short as she saw Duke’s eyes turn black. </p><p>“I can’t…can’t see…what...” Duke said fearfully. </p><p>“What are you doing to him?” Nathan asked Mara hatefully. </p><p>“Nothing…I…this shouldn’t be happening…I turned him off…Unless…oh crap,” she gasped as she realized what happened. She rushed forward, pushing Nathan out of the way when he tried to grab her, and ripped Duke’s shirt open, not caring about the buttons flying everywhere as she slapped her hand on his chest just as aether started pouring from his eyes. She grunted at the effort it was taking to hold it back. </p><p>When Nathan tried to grab her and pull her away from Duke, Charlotte stopped him. “Mara, dove. What’s going on?” </p><p>“I really hope one of you can fly that plane. Because I’m not gonna be able to hold him for long. We need to get him into the void before he blows,” she said with a strained voice. </p><p>“We’re not letting you anywhere near the void,” Nathan snapped. </p><p>“If you don’t, then thousands of troubles are going to pour out of him and infect every person in this town,” Mara snapped back before taking a deep breath for calm. “Look, I don’t blame you for not trusting me. I really don’t. But we don’t have time for this right now.” </p><p>“I can open one of the thinnys here. Temporarily,” Charlotte offered. “We’ll just have to drive there.” She wasn’t entirely sure that she trusted her daughter, but she did trust her enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least for now. </p><p>“And if she kills you as soon as it’s open so you can’t close it again?” Nathan asked in a hiss. </p><p>“Would you rather your friend explode and trouble the entire town?” Charlotte asked pointedly. “Come on. Let’s get him to the cars.”</p><p>“Is no one going to ask my opinion?” Duke asked, trying to tamp down the fear of suddenly being blind and being in Mara’s hands of all people. </p><p>“This was your idea in the first place,” Mara pointed out before telling Charlotte and Nathan. “Take his arms to lead him. I can’t let go.” </p><p>“Point,” Duke had to admit, jumping a bit when he felt both of his arms grabbed and nervously letting them lead him. </p><p>“I still think this is a bad idea,” Nathan grumbled. </p><p>“How is this happening?” Charlotte asked as they helped Duke into the car, somewhat awkwardly since Mara couldn’t lose contact with him. </p><p>“I turned him off, but left a failsafe. If I died, then he would explode,” Mara started. </p><p>“But you’re not dead,” Duke pointed out. </p><p>“No, but the part of me that set it up is,” she explained as she settled in his lap so that the bumps of the road couldn’t knock her hand away. “When Audrey was merged back with me, all the good parts that were stripped from me to make her, and all the others, killed the blind rage and hatred that fueled the troubles in the first place.”</p><p>“And we’re supposed to believe that?” Nathan scoffed. </p><p>“No. I don’t expect you to. Not after everything I’ve done,” Mara said sadly. “But the fact is that this wouldn’t be happening to him otherwise.”</p><p>“What do you mean the good parts that were stripped from you?” Duke had to ask. If nothing else but to get his mind off his predicament. </p><p>“I can answer that,” Charlotte said with a heavy sigh. “When her father was banished, she fell apart. She decided to pick up his experiments. Finish his work. But here on this world where she could work in secret. When the council found out about what she was doing, they were going to give her the same punishment, but I stepped in and suggested rehabilitation instead. We took all the good parts that she’d buried down in her grief and separated them from her, using those to create new personalities over top of her original one.”</p><p>“So you separated everything good in her and locked the rest of her away?” Duke asked disgustedly. </p><p>“I realize now that it was a mistake,” Charlotte said regretfully. “But the thinking at the time was that we would give those good parts a chance to grow and strengthen before remerging them with her.”</p><p>“But you ended up giving her a kind of split personality instead,” Nathan said starting to understand how this happened. Not that he was any closer to trusting Mara as far as he could throw her. </p><p>“Because of the way it ended. When the barn was destroyed, everything got all messed up and we didn’t get word until recently which was why they sent me here. To try and fix it. But then when I met Audrey, I couldn’t find Mara within her to merge and I couldn’t figure out why until…”</p><p>“Until you found out how we separated them,” Nathan sighed. “So you were here to kill Audrey all along.”</p><p>“Not kill her,” Charlotte said seriously, despite knowing that he would still take it that way. “Put her back where she belonged.” </p><p>“What’s the difference?” Nathan snapped. </p><p>“I still remember Audrey,” Mara told him. “I have her thoughts and memories and feelings, but…not quite like they’re me. More like a dream or…or a fantasy, but…she’s not completely gone.” She didn’t know if that would make it better or worse, but it still had to be said. </p><p>“Audrey said the same thing once about Lexi,” Duke interjected, the conversation taking his mind off the fear of his current blindness and the unsettling rolling of the blackness covering his eyes. </p><p>“I remember her saying that, but I don’t have any of Lexi in here. I think because when you separated Audrey from me in the first place, it was just her. Everyone else just…disappeared.” </p><p>“She might as well be gone,” Nathan grumbled, trying to keep his grief at bay at least until this was handled. </p><p>“I have to know…were you really planning on helping me before? Letting me explode in the void?” Duke asked. He wanted to believe her, and Charlotte’s explanations helped, but he had to know for sure. </p><p>“No,” Mara admitted. “I was using you to find an open thinny. It would have defeated the entire purpose to let you explode there.”</p><p>“What purpose?” Duke asked coldly. </p><p>“You have to understand. My dad…he was banished for saving my life. I was sick and his experiments were to save me. It was my fault. I had to save him too. Once all my goodness was stripped away, all I had was that single-minded purpose.”</p><p>“And making me explode here helped that how?” Duke asked skeptically. </p><p>“By bringing enough aether into this world, it would help strengthen him enough to get a foothold here. But I needed an open thinny to get him here,” Mara explained. </p><p>“So what…that’s your plan now? We open a thinny so Duke can explode and then we use it to bring your father through?” Nathan asked, not sure why she was laying out her entire plan. </p><p>“No,” Mara shook her head. “If that was the case, I wouldn’t be holding it back now,” she pointed out. “Now I’m going to do what I promised before. Get Duke through so he can explode there.”</p><p>“Why then? If you can just take the troubles away, why not just let him do it here and then take them too?” Nathan asked, trying to trip her up. </p><p>“That’s a good question,” Duke had to admit. </p><p>“Because I won’t have control over these troubles,” Mara said, using her free hand to wipe the sweat from her brow. “He’s the one creating these, not me. And he won’t have the ability to call them back like I do the current troubles.” </p><p>“So…what? I was your failsafe in case you got forced to take away the current ones?” Duke asked disgustedly. </p><p>“Something like that,” Mara admitted as they pulled up to the thinny. </p><p>“It’ll take me a few minutes to open it,” Charlotte said as she got out. </p><p>“I still think this is a stupid idea,” Nathan said, but no one listened to him. </p><p>Charlotte opened the back door of the car a minute later to help Duke and Mara out. “It’s open, come on.”</p><p>“You’re gonna have to carry me,” she told Duke exhaustedly. “I’m using too much strength holding it back.”</p><p>Duke nodded curtly and got out of the car, lifting her in his arms as he did so and he let Charlotte and Nathan lead him towards the open thinny. He felt a tug and could smell the difference in the air as he fell through, dropping her in the process and then he could feel his body go rigid as he blew. He barely heard Mara’s groans as it seemed to last forever and then he knew no more. </p><p>Mara dragged herself over to where he was unconscious and checked his pulse, glad to see it was still there and strong. She knew it would be a little while before he even /could/ wake up, so she leaned herself against a tree to wait, feeling her strength continue to wane. After a while, she was sure that his body had adjusted, so she managed to lift her hand enough to smack him in the face. “Duke…come on. You have to wake up now.” </p><p>“Ugh,” Duke groaned as he rolled to his side and a half sitting position. “I feel like I got run over by a bus.”</p><p>“Part of that…is the air here…humans can’t survive long…you have to go…I can direct you to the thinny.”</p><p>“What do you mean, /I/ have to go?” Duke asked worriedly, sitting up a little more to look at her, searching her eyes for the truth now that he could see again. </p><p>“I’m too weak…holding it all back so long…I’m not gonna make it…but I need you to listen…to tell my mom how to get rid of the troubles…”</p><p>“No, you’re coming back with me. Tell her yourself,” Duke shook his head. </p><p>“No, I can’t,” she shook her head. “I’m dying, Duke. And you’re not strong enough anymore to carry me back anyway.”</p><p>“I can…”</p><p>“Just shut up and listen,” she snapped. “You’re the key. The troubles are tied to the Crocker line.”</p><p>“So I have to die anyway?” Duke asked more than a little hurt. </p><p>“No!” Mara said quickly. “If you die…if the Crocker line ends…then the troubles are permanent. They can never be taken away.”</p><p>“But…then why didn’t you just kill me? Why the need for a failsafe?” Duke asked confused. </p><p>“Because I couldn’t,” she said sadly. “Even as far gone as I was…I never lied to you, Duke…I really did…care about you…as much as I was capable of then at least…I had to…find a way without…without hurting you.”</p><p>“And you didn’t think that this would hurt me?” Duke asked incredulously. “You broke me, Mara. In so many ways, I…” Duke cut himself off and took a deep steadying breath. </p><p>“I know,” she sighed. “I didn’t get it then…I didn’t realize…without the ability to feel…empathy and…and compassion…I didn’t get it, but…I do now. That’s why…I had to save you…for real this time…You need to know…if I hadn’t been as far gone as I was…you might have been enough…” she managed to reach her hand to his cheek. </p><p>“Enough for what?” Duke had to ask in almost a whisper. </p><p>“To bring me back…from the darkness,” she said as her hand fell weakly to the forest floor. “I’m running out of time…you have to tell my mother…the troubles are bound through you…since you’re the last Crocker…she can remove them through you…it just needs…the opposite catalyst…the troubles were created…from hate and grief…she can…direct them…through this open thinny…and then seal it back up.”</p><p>“No, we’re not just sealing you away here,” Duke shook his head. </p><p>“I’m dying anyway, Duke…and even if I wasn’t…taking the troubles will…remove all the aether in that world…including what’s a part of me…and that would kill me anyway,” she told him. “So go. And hurry before you get any sicker.” </p><p>“There has to be a way to save you,” Duke said firmly, desperately hoping that he wasn’t going to have to make this choice. Even after everything she’d done…it wasn’t her really. Sure the original troubles were, but everything since…it hadn’t been her choice to have all of her goodness stripped away. And she’d basically sacrificed her life to save him. He couldn’t just do nothing and let her die. </p><p>“Only aether can save me now. And I don’t have the strength to get to any. I don’t expect you to trust me enough to get me some even if you /did/ have time,” she told him. “It’s okay, Duke. I deserve this,” she said sadly. “Go save Haven while you still can.”</p><p>“Where can I find aether here?” Duke asked. </p><p>“Duke, don’t…”</p><p>“I’m not just leaving you to die. Even if I have to go search myself,” Duke said seriously. “So the sooner you tell me where to find it…”</p><p>“You can’t,” she said weakly. “You still have…the bomb trouble…if it touches your skin…we’ll be right back…where we started…and you won’t have time…to explode again…and still get out.” </p><p>“Then I’ll use my shirt and be careful,” Duke said. “Now where can I find it?” </p><p>“In any cave,” she said defeatedly. “Closest should be…that way,” she pointed. “I can…feel it…calling to me.” </p><p>“I’ll be back,” Duke said, dragging himself to his feet. He could feel his weakness and knew that he had to hurry as he stumbled the direction she pointed. Thankfully it wasn’t far. He took off his shirt and gathered some from the walls, careful not to let it touch his skin, and then stumbled back to her. “Okay now what?” he asked as he fell to his knees beside her. </p><p>“Take off my shirt…and spread it on my chest,” she told him. “Not all of it…mom will need a little bit…to take away the troubles.” </p><p>Duke nodded and set his shirt aside and pulled her away from the tree to get her shirt off and then he grabbed his and smeared most of the aether onto her chest, relieved when it sank in. “Does that mean it’s working? You’re okay now?” </p><p>“It’ll take a little while…for my strength to come back,” she told him. “But I will be. Thank you, Duke,” she said with tears welling up in her eyes. “But now you need to hurry.”</p><p>“Once the troubles are gone and the aether is returned here…you’ll be able to come back then right?” </p><p>“Yeah, I’ll be able to,” she assured him, not that she expected to get that chance. She was almost certain that they wouldn’t let her come back. That they would seal the thinny before she could and she didn’t blame them at all. At least she would live, even if it did have to be here. </p><p>“Okay,” Duke nodded and squeezed her hand comfortingly before staggering to his feet. “Where’s the thinny?” </p><p>“Two steps to your right,” she waited for him to move. “Now five steps forward,” she lied. It was only three steps, but she didn’t want to risk him getting cold feet about leaving her behind.</p><p>Duke stepped back through the thinny and stumbled to his knees, gasping for air as he felt his strength slowly returning. “Duke!” Nathan said gladly, rushing over to him. “Are you okay now?”</p><p>“Where’s Mara?” Charlotte asked worriedly. </p><p>“Seal the thinny,” Nathan ordered Charlotte. </p><p>“Not yet,” Duke said quickly. He knew that Nathan wouldn’t hear a word about waiting for her, but there was another reason that he /would/ accept. “She told me to tell you how to get rid of the troubles,” Duke told Charlotte. “And the thinny has to be open until it’s done.”</p><p>“How?” both Charlotte and Nathan asked, one with hope and the other with suspicion. </p><p>“She said that I’m the key. The troubles are bound through the Crocker line. Since I’m the last Crocker, they can be removed through me with the opposite catalyst that was used to create them.”</p><p>“What catalyst was used to create them?” Charlotte asked. </p><p>“Hatred and grief, she said,” Duke told her. “And she said you would need this,” he handed over his shirt that still had a little aether on it. </p><p>“Okay,” Charlotte said as she thought it over. </p><p>“How do you know she’s not still playing us?” Nathan had to ask. </p><p>“Because she almost died in there,” Duke snapped. “She was dying and tried to get me to leave her anyway. So I could get back here and help end the troubles.”</p><p>“She’s dying?” Charlotte asked grief-stricken. </p><p>“No. Not anymore. I wouldn’t leave until she told me how to save her. It’s going to take her a while to get her strength back, but she can’t come back through here until the troubles are gone anyway. Something about it removing all the aether from this world and that would kill her anyway?” Duke said with a shrug, not completely understanding that part of the conversation. </p><p>“It would,” Charlotte nodded, realizing now what she had to do to get rid of them. “Her body was infused with aether to save her from her illness as a child. Taking it away from her would kill her.” </p><p>“She said if I told you all that, you’d know how to get rid of the troubles,” Duke said, hoping that he wouldn’t have to go back to get more information. </p><p>“Yes, I do now,” Charlotte told him. “But I’ll need to use some of the aether on you.”</p><p>“Mara said that if the aether touched my skin that it would make me a trouble bomb again,” Duke said worriedly, taking a few steps back. </p><p>“Without being driven by intent, it probably would, but this won’t be entering you. Just channeling through you to pull the aether from elsewhere,” Charlotte explained. </p><p>“You’re positive?” Duke asked hesitantly. </p><p>“I wouldn’t take the risk if I wasn’t,” she assured him. </p><p>“Hang on…let’s just think about this for a minute,” Nathan jumped in. “We’re talking about trusting /Mara/ here. What if she gave you the wrong information?” </p><p>“She didn’t,” Duke shook his head. “She’s different now.”</p><p>“You /would/ think that,” Nathan scoffed. </p><p>“Because I can /see/ it,” Duke argued. “I couldn’t be sure until I could see again, but her eyes…they’re not cold anymore. The emotions aren’t faked anymore. They’re real.”</p><p>“I believe her too,” Charlotte said with a smile at Duke. “I could see the same. Mara never was good at faking tears either.”</p><p>“No, she wasn’t,” Duke agreed. “She never did manage that, no matter how appropriate it would have been to the game she was playing.” </p><p>“Fine, but if this is a trick…we seal that thinny and keep her there forever,” Nathan said firmly, not willing to accept any argument on the subject. </p><p>“I can agree to that,” Charlotte said only because she was sure that it wasn’t a trick. </p><p>“So can I,” Duke said with a nod. If he really was falling for another game from her, he would gladly seal her up in hell for eternity. </p><p>That settled, Charlotte took a glob of the aether from Duke’s shirt and covered her hand in it. “You ready?” she asked him and he nodded nervously. She placed her hand on his chest and focused on love and joy, using her feelings at getting her daughter back to fuel it and she could see that it was working. Aether was flying in from all over, passing through Duke and then being directed through the open thinny. </p><p>Nathan let out a sigh of relief at the sight and the fact that he could feel again. That meant that it was working at least. Not that it meant he trusted Mara now. Who knew what kind of game she was playing and if this was a part of it. Lulling them into a false sense of security so she could do something worse later. It wouldn’t be the first time. Once the flow finally stopped after about half an hour, Duke sank to the ground unconscious again and Charlotte knelt to check his pulse. “I’m guessing this means we’re not sealing her away?” Nathan said disgustedly. </p><p>“No. We’re not,” Charlotte said firmly. “She will have noticed that the flow stopped and she’ll come back through when she can. And I plan to wait right here until then.”</p><p>“Fine, but don’t expect me to,” Nathan snapped and turned to storm away. It wasn’t far to the main road and someone would give him a ride back to his truck. </p><p>Charlotte sat down next to Duke’s unconscious body as she waited, but Mara still hadn’t come back by the time Duke woke up an hour later. “Mara?” he asked worriedly. </p><p>“Not back yet,” Charlotte told him. </p><p>“You haven’t gone after her?” Duke asked incredulously. “That better not be sealed.”</p><p>“It’s not sealed,” Charlotte assured him, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t gone after her due to the irrational fear of the void after her husband had been banished there. </p><p>“Then I’ll go get her,” Duke said as he got to his feet. </p><p>“Be careful and be quick,” Charlotte said worriedly. “You’re not completely recovered from your last trip there and you won’t have long.”</p><p>“I will be,” Duke nodded, and Charlotte led him to the right spot to go through. “Mara!” he said as he moved over to her. “How are you?” </p><p>“Little better. It’ll take a few days before I’m back to full strength though.”</p><p>“We’re done getting rid of the troubles. It should be safe for you to come back now. Can you walk yet?” She shook her head, so he leaned down to pick her up. “I gotcha then.” She directed him back through the thinny on this side. </p><p>“Mara, dove. How are you? Are you okay?” Charlotte asked worriedly as soon as Duke came back through with her. </p><p>“Still weak, but I’ll be okay,” she said tiredly. “Duke said the troubles are gone now?” </p><p>“They seem to be, yes,” Charlotte nodded, having talked to Dwight while Duke was unconscious. </p><p>“Good,” she sighed relieved as Duke got her to the car and sat her in the backseat so she could lay down if she wanted to, which she very much did. </p><p>As Charlotte and Duke got in the front, Charlotte said, “Once you’re strong enough, we can go home.”</p><p>“I don’t want to go back,” she said stubbornly. </p><p>“Your punishment is over. You’ll be welcomed,” Charlotte assured her. </p><p>“I don’t care,” Mara said. “They’re still the people who banished my father for saving my life. I want nothing to do with that world.” Not to mention she knew that no matter what her mother said, she would always be looked down on. Not only for her crimes, but as the freak that was part aether. They would treat her like a ticking time bomb because of it. </p><p>“Okay,” Charlotte sighed sadly. “But you still have your ring right? In case you change your mind?” </p><p>“I do, but I won’t,” she said firmly. </p><p>“You’re welcome to stay in Audrey’s old apartment,” Duke told her. “I doubt Nate will let you have her job, even if you’d want to do it anyway, but I could find something for you if you want.” </p><p>“I don’t have a clue what I want to do with my life yet,” she sighed. “It’s been so long since I’ve been…me…I just…Yeah. If you can get me something for now while I figure myself out. So I can at least pay the rent and stuff.” </p><p>“Okay. We’ll do that then,” Duke agreed as Charlotte dropped him off where he’d left his truck and he noticed that Nathan’s Bronco was gone. “You want to come with me so I can take you home or spend some time with your mom?” </p><p>“With you,” Mara told him and then winced at the pain that washed over her mother’s face so she rushed to clarify. “I just want to sleep for a week right now.” And she was still pissed at her, but she was too tired to deal with that at the moment. </p><p>“I understand, dove. I’m gonna stay on this world for a little while though so just call me if you need anything,” Charlotte told her. She didn’t want to leave her daughter behind again so soon and she also wanted to at least try to fix things with Dwight too. How long she would stay here remained to be seen, but for now, she wasn’t going anywhere. </p><p>Mara just gave her mother a curt nod as Duke lifted her out of the backseat and carried her to his truck. Once they were settled and moving, she said, “You came back for me.” </p><p>“Of course, I did,” Duke said. “You almost died to save me.”</p><p>“After I put you in that position in the first place,” she pointed out. </p><p>“That wasn’t you,” Duke shook his head. “That was the twisted parody of you that was created when everything good in you was taken away.” </p><p>“Does that mean I still have a chance?” she asked hopefully, reaching over to take his hand. </p><p>“I don’t know,” Duke said with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know if I can look past all this that far and…it’s all just coming so fast and…”</p><p>“I get it,” Mara said taking her hand away. “And I guess you don’t really know the real me that well either, so…”</p><p>Duke nodded slowly. She was right about that. The fact that she so obviously cared meant something though. The fact that even without that important piece of her, she still managed to feel something for him…it mattered. He just didn’t know how much yet. He needed time to wrap his head around all this. There was a big difference between trusting her enough to not let her die and trusting her with his heart again. The rest of the drive was spent in silence and once they got there, he carried her upstairs and put her in bed, stopping to brush her hair back with a shaky smile. “Goodnight, Mara,” he said softly. </p><p>“Night Duke,” she returned his smile, feeling something that had been so unfamiliar to her for so long. Hope.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Duke spent most of the evening and night turning things over in his head, trying to come to terms with the new way of things and everything he learned and figure out if it was even possible for him to try to get past it. He didn’t end up getting much sleep and still wasn’t much closer to an answer. The only conclusion that he came to was that it would require a lot more conversation and answers from Mara. He had just finished his breakfast when his solitude was interrupted by Nathan calling his name. “Back here,” he called as he put his plate in the sink and headed out into the stateroom. </p><p>“Hey I just wanted to let you know…I’m gonna go get some of Audrey’s stuff from her apartment, so…”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s gonna have to wait,” Duke told him, knowing that the next news was going to set Nathan off, but not seeing a way around it right now. </p><p>“Why?” Nathan asked confused. </p><p>“Because Mara’s sleeping up there right now, still recovering from almost having died. Once she’s up, we’ll get you in there to take whatever you want,” Duke promised. He wasn’t disputing Nathan’s right to her stuff. </p><p>“You’re letting /her/ stay in Audrey’s apartment?!” Nathan asked incredulously. “Sleep in Audrey’s bed?!” </p><p>“Where else was she gonna stay?” Duke shrugged. </p><p>“Oh I don’t know. How about the cemetery? I could find her a nice spot,” Nathan sneered. </p><p>Duke rolled his eyes, “Yeah because summary execution without a judge, jury, or due process is the way of things in this town now is it?” </p><p>“You don’t think she deserves to die? After everything she’s done?” Nathan scoffed. </p><p>“Everything she’s done lately wasn’t really her,” Duke pointed out. “She had her entire psyche ripped in two leaving only the bad parts remember?” </p><p>“Okay fine. I /might/ could deal with that, but Duke…she created the troubles to begin with,” Nathan argued. </p><p>“And she’s spent the last five hundred years being punished for it. And not humanely I might add. That’s like twenty five life sentences of being trapped inside her own mind with everything good in her stripped away. She’s done her time.” Neither of them noticed Mara coming down to talk to Duke and pausing outside the doorway when she heard them talking. </p><p>Nathan refused to admit that Duke might have a point. He was too far gone to even consider the possibility, but still had no idea what to say to that. “You actually trust her now? After everything?”</p><p>Mara held her breath waiting for the answer to that question too. “Of course not. I’m not an idiot,” Duke scoffed. “But there’s a big difference between trusting someone and giving them the chance to earn your trust.” Mara had felt her heart drop at the initial response, but the explanation made her feel a lot better. She could earn his trust back. One way or another. </p><p>“Well you are an idiot if you think that’s ever going to happen,” Nathan snapped. </p><p>“Maybe, but lets not forget that she’s not the only person to have gone so far out of grief and fear,” Duke pointed out. </p><p>“Don’t you dare compare what I did to that,” Nathan growled. </p><p>“No? Let’s look at it objectively shall we?” Duke said, readying himself for the punch he knew was coming. “Sacrificing the well being of the entire town to save someone you loved? Check.”</p><p>“But she created them in the first place. Not just let them stay,” Nathan said dangerously. </p><p>“True, and that’s a point for you. But you also killed your own son in the process so…” Only because he was expecting it did Duke manage to stay on his feet…with a little help from the counter. He couldn’t even say he didn’t deserve it, but it still had to be said. And so did, “And when the town wanted to string you up for it, I had your back. I gave you a chance. And I’m going to give her the same whether you like it or not.” </p><p>Mara took that moment to step in. If nothing else but to distract Nathan from hitting Duke again. “Thank you for that,” she told Duke. </p><p>“How long were you standing there?” Nathan asked suspiciously. </p><p>“Just for a minute,” Mara shrugged. “I was trying to decide if I should interrupt or not.” </p><p>When Nathan saw that Duke wasn’t going to say anything to that he just snorted derisively. “Well at least I can get in to get Audrey’s things now,” he said pointedly to Duke who grabbed the keys off the wall and tossed them to him. Nathan stormed out, but he didn’t go far. If Mara could eavesdrop, then so could he and he needed some kind of ammunition to make Duke see how stupid he was being. </p><p>Mara walked into the galley and grabbed a frozen steak from the freezer and put it on Duke’s eye as he sat down. “You okay?” she asked worriedly. </p><p>“I’ll be fine. Not the first time and probably won’t be the last,” Duke said amusedly. “How are you feeling?” </p><p>“Still pretty weak, but I’ll live. Thanks to you.”</p><p>“I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to talk to you,” Duke changed the subject. “You said yesterday that you didn’t think about how much breaking me like that would hurt me, but then you also said at the time that it was necessary to hurt me.”</p><p>“Yeah, I might not have worded that quite right,” she admitted. She had been on the verge of death at the time so hopefully she would be forgiven. “It wasn’t so much that I didn’t think it would hurt you as it was that emotional pain was so inconsequential to me at the time that it didn’t seem important. Not as important as my end goal at least.” </p><p>“About that…you had a goal…trying to get your father back…I get that. And I can see how the parts that you were missing could push you that far, but…you seemed almost…gleeful at the idea of breaking me. More than just being a step closer to your goal,” Duke accused. </p><p>Mara winced and looked away. “You’re not gonna like the answer if I tell you that.”</p><p>“I can’t think of any possible answer that I /would/ like,” Duke pointed out emotionlessly. If he ever wanted any chance of getting past it though, he had to understand. </p><p>“Point,” she admitted before giving a heavy sigh and getting to the answer that she knew he deserved and wishing that it wouldn’t end up hurting him so much. “You’re right. I was glad that I could break you. It was…satisfying for me. Because as much as I admired your strength deep down, I hated it even more.” </p><p>“Why?” Duke asked, glad of the steak on his eye that kept him from having to look at her for this. Kept her from seeing the pain in his eyes. </p><p>“Because it just made it more obvious how weak I really was. I lost one parent and went off the deep end. You lost everything, were abandoned to fend for yourself, struggled every day to stay alive, and still managed to hold it together. You were just a simple human and you were so much stronger than me and it pissed me off. I wanted to prove that you could be broken too. Thought that it would make me feel better.”</p><p>“And did it?” Duke had to know. </p><p>“No,” she sighed. “It just made it worse. Because it showed how much farther your breaking point was than mine. And the fact that you were even younger than I was through most of it, just…” she trailed off with a grimace. </p><p>“How old were you?” Duke asked curiously. “When everything happened?” </p><p>Mara took a few deep breaths, steeling herself for telling this story. She didn’t mind telling Duke so much. She had so much more awful information about his past, but she knew that Nathan was listening at the door and telling him was a lot harder. She also knew that if he was ever going to give her even a little bit of a chance that this might help, so she forced herself to forget that he was there and just talk to Duke. “I was seven when I got sick,” she started. “I was ten before my dad managed to cure me with the aether. He was arrested when I was eleven, banished when I was thirteen, and I came here to this world to continue his experiments when I was fifteen.” </p><p>“You were…fifteen,” Duke blinked, trying to wrap his head around that before considering something else. “And where did William come into all this?” </p><p>“I met him not long after I got here. I had no idea where to start and was even fighting with myself over if I /should/. Now, I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to absolve myself of responsibility here, because I’m not. It was all my idea, my methods, my connection to the aether that even made it possible,” she told him. </p><p>“Okay, I get that,” Duke said leadingly waiting for the rest of the story. </p><p>“William was…nice to me. I realize now that his intentions weren’t the best, but at the time…I had never been away from home before and I was in a new and scary place and he was the first person to care. But he hated this town with a passion. See, he was basically the town drunk. Everyone looked down on him and treated him like crap and he wanted revenge. When he heard why I was there and what I could do, we started planning it together. I had found such a kindred spirit that I used the aether to bind him to me so that we could be immortal together.”</p><p>“How old were you when you did that?” Duke asked, already feeling a little sick. William had to be at least thirty or forty and she’d been fifteen when they met. </p><p>“It was only a few months after I got here. I was still fifteen,” she told him. </p><p>“And how old were you when you got caught?” </p><p>“Twenty five.” </p><p>Duke took a few deep breaths, swallowing the bile in his throat as he put a timeline together. She’d come here as a lost and grieving kid and found herself taken advantage of by an older man who instead of pulling her back from the edge, pushed her over it. Then, instead of getting help when she was caught, she was torn apart and trapped in her own mind for the next five hundred years. No wonder she was a mess and needed to figure herself out. He saw no point in her lying about it when it could just be confirmed through her mother that she knew was sticking around for a while. Not that he didn’t plan to confirm it, of course. But for the time being at least, he would believe her. </p><p>Nathan was in much the same state on the other side of the door, but with a lot more suspicion thrown in. Finally, he did leave, but not to the apartment. Not yet. He had another conversation to have first. /If/ she was telling the truth, and that was a big if, he wouldn’t really have a choice but to give her a chance. If she was lying though, then he would have all the ammunition he needed to prove to Duke that she couldn’t be trusted. There was only one person that could confirm her story. </p><p>Nathan pulled up at the bed and breakfast where Charlotte was staying and knocked on her door, hoping he caught her before she headed to the hospital. If she was even planning to keep up that part of the ruse now, which he wasn’t sure of. When she didn’t answer, he was just turning to leave when she came walking up with a coffee and a bag from the bakery. “Nathan. I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” she said curiously. </p><p>“I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes?” he replied. </p><p>Charlotte nodded and went to open the door. “Come on in then,” she offered. “What can I do for you?”</p><p>“I…overheard some things and want confirmation,” Nathan said carefully, not wanting to give her any hints as to what Mara said just in case she felt the need to cover for her daughter. “How old was she when she came to this world and started creating the troubles?” </p><p>“She was fifteen when she came here. I don’t know how long after that she started creating the troubles though,” Charlotte admitted. </p><p>“And how old was she when she was caught?” </p><p>“She was twenty-five. I’d spent the last ten years looking for her on our world, but it never dawned on me that she might have left it completely,” Charlotte said sadly. </p><p>“So you’re the one that turned her in?” Nathan asked disgustedly. </p><p>“No,” she shook her head profusely. “I would never have…but I didn’t come here alone. Travel between worlds was restricted. I had to have an escort. When they found out what she was doing, they arrested her.”</p><p>“She was barely more than a kid,” Nathan pointed out. “And you just let them do that to her?” He felt his sympathy for her growing. </p><p>“I didn’t have a choice,” Charlotte begged him to understand. “They were going to banish her to the void. I begged for mercy. Some other punishment. Only because of her age they accepted rehabilitation instead. I didn’t get a say in what kind and I had my own punishment to deal with.”</p><p>“Your punishment?” Nathan asked much more calmly. </p><p>“As her mother, I took as much of the blame as they would let me. For my failures regarding her. My sentence was to be her jailer,” she said sadly. </p><p>“I see,” Nathan said evenly. He couldn’t blame Mara for not wanting to go back to her world now that he knew all that. And as much as it galled him, he couldn’t /not/ give Mara a chance now. “Well, I should go. I have things to do. I just wanted to confirm her story.” When he headed back to the apartment, he changed his mind about how to do it. When he first heard that Duke was letting Mara stay there, he planned to clean everything out and leave her with nothing. Instead, he just took anything personal of Audrey’s and some of her favorite clothes and left everything else for Mara. </p><p>While Nathan was going to talk to Charlotte, Duke and Mara continued their conversation. “I know that you think it doesn’t absolve you, and it doesn’t completely, but…it does a little bit,” Duke told her. Assuming her story checked out, he didn’t say. And if she ever did try to screw him over again he would kick her out so fast her head would spin. “And I honestly don’t know if I can get past all that enough to ever be with you. If I can ever manage to look at you and not remember everything that other part of you did to me. But I can and will be your friend and I’ll help you where I can. Anything more we’ll have to see.”</p><p>“That’s fair,” she agreed sadly. “And to be honest, I need to get myself figured out before jumping into anything too.” She had just needed to know that it was still a possibility. That he didn’t hate her and that there was at least a chance that they could get past it someday. She knew that she was in no shape to be in a relationship right now and that it would obviously take time for him to be able to see the real her. </p><p>“Good,” Duke said relieved, glad that she wasn’t going to ask for any more than he was ready to give and that he wasn’t the one that had to tell her to get herself together first. He pulled the steak off his eye and set it aside to keep thawing. He might as well have it for dinner tonight. He poured them both drinks and offered her one and made a toast. “To new friends.” </p><p>“New friends,” she said with a grin as she clinked their glasses together and the conversation took on a lighter tone as they just got to know each other. </p><p>It was a couple hours later before Nathan came back by, tossing the keys to Duke who easily caught them in midair and giving Mara an almost polite nod before heading out. Nathan had wanted to talk to Duke, but wasn’t going to do that in front of Mara. Instead, he just sent a text before he left. ‘Heard Mara’s story. Confirmed with Charlotte. It’s legit. Thought you should know.’ It was only a few minutes later when Duke sent back a simple, ‘ok’. </p><p>Duke gave Mara a week to recover her strength before he started her working at the Gull. There were a few times that he had to have a conversation with her about not being rude to idiots and especially not to call them ‘brain-dead morons’ to their face, but most of the business he lost wasn’t related to that issue at all. While Nathan spreading Mara’s story did cut down on /most/ of the violent altercations from the guard, most of them would have nothing to do with her regardless and looped Duke into that for helping and supporting her. Ninety percent of the guard boycotted the Grey Gull within days of Mara starting work. </p><p>There were a few violent altercations as well, and most of them learned the hard way not to do it again. She never hesitated to put someone down, physically or verbally. The fact that it was always self-defense meant that she stayed out of legal trouble, not that she wasn’t arrested more than once. They just couldn’t make anything stick. That wasn’t to say that it was all bad though. There were people in her corner, mostly the few that were still in the dark about the troubles and just thought that she was Audrey’s twin sister. Duke was her only real friend though. She wasn’t exactly the social type and found the entire idea an exercise in patience. Just because she wasn’t bad anymore didn’t mean she was good either. </p><p>Charlotte went home a month after Mara was reunified, having made very little progress in repairing their relationship, but it wasn’t frigid anymore at least. Since the issue was resolved, she was ordered home and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t convince Mara to go with her. If there was one good thing it was that she wasn’t leaving anyone else behind since Dwight had never forgiven her for lying to him. </p><p>After a few months, Mara was all but begging Duke for something more interesting to do than delivering food and wiping down tables. Even the nights she took over the bar were boring for her. Duke was a little nervous about what she was implying, but decided that as long as he started small it would be okay and started asking her to make deliveries for him and giving her a cut of the money. The first few were just tests, but when she passed with flying colors, he started letting her into the real business little by little. He had to admit that he was getting a little bored sticking around Haven too. Now that the troubles were gone, there wasn’t that much to do. </p><p>The only reason he was still sticking around was for Mara. They had been getting closer and closer and he was finally starting to believe that she actually cared. For real this time. He didn’t want to leave her behind, but until he could trust her enough to be his partner, he couldn’t take her with him either so they were in a holding pattern. It was almost a year after she had become whole again before things finally started to move forward. She had been attacked and was in the hospital and he spent the first two days at her bedside before she kicked him out to get some real rest. Once she got out of the hospital, she went by the boat to let him know and found herself swept up in a searing kiss that quickly moved to the bedroom. They left Haven together two weeks later, Duke getting back to his real job of smuggling all over the world, this time with a partner.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not sure how this is going to go over, but if you guys want me to continue it with Duke and Mara getting past their issues and getting together just let me know.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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